1 Kings 8:1-11

1 Then all the greater men in birth in Israel, with [the] princes of the lineages, and the dukes of [the] families of the sons of Israel, were gathered to king Solomon, into Jerusalem, that they should bear the ark of [the] bond of peace of the Lord from the city of David, that is, from Zion. (Then all the men of great age, that is, the elders, of Israel, with the leaders of the tribes and the families of the Israelites, were gathered unto King Solomon, in Jerusalem, so that they could bring the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord from the City of David, that is, from Zion.)
2 And all Israel came together [to king Solomon] in the month [of] Ethanim, that is September, in the solemn day; which is the seventh month. (And all Israel came together to King Solomon on the feast day in the month of Ethanim, that is September, which is the seventh month.)
3 And all the eld men of Israel came; and the priests took the ark,
4 and they bare the ark of the Lord, and the tabernacle of [the] bond of peace, and all the vessels of the saintuary, that were in the tabernacle; and the priests and deacons bare those. (and they carried the Ark of the Lord, and the Tabernacle of the Covenant, and all the vessels of the sanctuary, that were in the Tabernacle; yea, the priests and the Levites carried all of it.)
5 And king Solomon, and all the multitude of Israel, that came together to him, went with him before the ark; and they offered sheep and oxen, without guessing and number . (And King Solomon, and all the multitude of Israel, who came together to him, went with him before the Ark; and they offered sheep and oxen, beyond estimating, or counting.)
6 And [the] priests brought the ark of [the] bond of peace of the Lord into his place, into God's answering place of the temple, into the holy of holy things, under the wings of the cherubims. (And the priests brought the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord into its place, into God's answering place at the Temple, yea, into the Inner Temple, that is, the Most Holy Place, or the Holy of Holies, under the wings of the cherubim.)
7 And the cherubims spreaded forth their wings over the place of the ark; and they covered the ark, and the bars thereof above.
8 And when the bars stood forth, and the highness of those appeared without the saintuary, before God's answering place, those bars appeared no further withoutforth; the which bars also were there unto this present day. (And when the bars were drawn out, the ends of them could be seen outside the sanctuary, in front of the Inner Temple, but those bars could not be seen otherwise; and these bars be there to this present day.)
9 And in the ark was none other thing, no but [the] two tables of stone, which Moses in Horeb had put in the ark, when the Lord made (a) bond of peace with the sons of Israel, when they went out of the land of Egypt. (And there was nothing else in the Ark, but the two stone tablets, which Moses had put in the Ark at Horeb, that is, at Mount Sinai, when the Lord made a covenant with the Israelites, when they went out of the land of Egypt.)
10 And it was done when the priests had gone out of the saintuary, a cloud filled the house of the Lord;
11 and the priests might not stand and minister, for the cloud; for why the glory of the Lord had filled the house of the Lord.

1 Kings 8:1-11 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO 1 KINGS 8

This chapter gives an account of the introduction of the ark into the temple, 1Ki 8:1-9 of the glory of the Lord filling it, 1Ki 8:10,11 of a speech Solomon made to the people concerning the building of the temple, and how he came to be engaged in it, 1Ki 8:12-21, of a prayer of his he put up on this occasion, requesting, that what supplications soever were made at any time, or on any account, by Israelites or strangers, might be accepted by the Lord, 1Ki 8:22-53, and of his blessing the people of Israel at the close of it, with some useful exhortations, 1Ki 8:54-61, and of the great number of sacrifices offered up by him, and the feast he made for the people, upon which he dismissed them, 1Ki 8:62-66.

Copyright © 2001 by Terence P. Noble. For personal use only.